Friday, 22 August 2014

How Important is Routine to a Writer?

I've been reading a lot lately about the importance of routine for different writers. This got me thinking about my own routine. Do I actually have one? Would I be a more productive writer if I did have one? How easily am I swayed from my routine by other factors? All good questions which make me wonder.

In some ways I do have a routine. It tends to follow this pattern.

Early am - Deal with social media

am - write

Lunch - when hunger strikes

pm write and/or edit

evening - free time.

Now you will realise from this that I have no fixed set times for working. These timelines are fluid and flexible. This means that other factors can easily get in the way. So my plan is to write a more sensible timetable and stick to it. The idea is to see if I become a more productive writer and my output increases.

The last question is, how easily am I swayed from what I am doing by external factors is the one which I found most illuminating. I am the first to admit I am a bit of a social media junkie and I can very easily be swayed from what I am doing by notifications from various social media sites. I have come to realise that this can take up a large proportion of my writing day. Although I say that this can build up my fan base and allow me to interact with others, it is still time taken away from my core job which is writing. I recently attended the Cromarty Crime Writing Festival. During this Ian Rankin spoke about his writing routine. He writes on a computer so old, it has no internet action. This is a deliberate ploy so that he is not distracted by going on to the internet every five minutes. Whilst I appreciate that this is a great solution, I cannot see it working for me. As you can see from the photo above, I write on an iMac and I am not entirely sure I want to disconnect if from the internet. I can, however, switch off notifications. This should stop me responding to every message which comes through. He also said part of his routine is eating snickers bars. if I took that tip on board I would be the size of a house. So maybe I will need to think of something else.

I am also good at being distracted by friends and family who want me to go and do things. I am both an adventurous, and social person, so I usually respond by saying Yes. Maybe I should do slightly less of this, but in all honesty, often it can be put down to research. I may be out but I am always thinking about things which could go in a book.

I have discovered I am a person who likes a clean and tidy desk in order to write. This is illustrated of the picture of my writing desk above. I have a very large office, but one part of it is a utility room. Given I live in Scotland there is a lot of inclement weather which means my washing is hanging up in my office, drying. Thinking about this, it really irritates me and puts me off my stride. In future I am going to hang the washing up elsewhere. One less distraction and more time for writing.

So I am off to put what I have discovered in to practice. For all my reader friends I hope you have found this glimpse into a writer's life interesting. To all my writer friends I will leave you with two questions. What distracts you? Do you have a writing routine, and if so what is it? Please share in the comments below and help other writers, myself included.

11 comments:

Great post. The social media thing is HUGE. Our internet was out for a while and I'd go to the library for 2 hours and deal with email and FB and Twitter, etc. Blogs. Then I'd go back home and just write. Most productive I've ever been.

I do have a routine. Basically, wake up, start writing. I don't usually eat lunch, so I'm on the computer until my girls make me put it away. I don't have an organized routine (or desk...or mind), so I take breaks, but most of the time I'm just working - largely so I can spend the evenings with my family and not feel guilty.

Also, DAJD on Monday. Two Minutes on Friday. Bookends. Helps me a lot.

I think Social media and the internet can suck our time away if we let it JD. I am very impressed by your discipline and approach. It's impressive. Your blogs are also impressive. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Great post. I have a very small apartment, so my writing space is in my living room. I tend to put the TV on for "background noise" and then I end up getting sucked in. I can't quite break the cycle. Facebook is terrible too, I go on to share my new blog post and an hour later I'm looking at funny pictures of cats :\ Maybe making a schedule for myself will help, I will give it a shot :) Thanks for the tips!

Liz I am glad you found the the post useful. I have put some of my ideas into practice today and I have to say I have been much more productive. I am glad I took the time to take stock of what I am doing

I am distracted by my day job, by working out, by eating, by family, by social media. I have no routine for writing except lately my routine is that I don't have enough time for it. It sucks. I have to change that.

If I needed order to be effective, I'd be screwed! In my writing life and in my professional life. I am a clutterbug...

Julie you obviously have a very busy life. It's a good job that you can work in the midst of chaos. Still it is important to find time for yourself and your writing. That is what I am fast coming to know and to put into practice.

I find I enjoy (need?) social media for little breaks when writing, but then I have to make sure I don't waste a lot of time on it. My day gets interrupted by school runs, working out, the freelance editing I do, the columns/Bible reading notes I write - which is writing, but not my book. I'm doing too many other things to get that first book done (but at least now I have a deadline). Turning off notifications of social media and emails is so key though; I'd really recommend you do that, Wendy. And move your laundry - I too need a tidy study or I get distracted by the clutter. When do you do all your reading?

Wendy, when I'm writing a book, I find it's best if I leave off at a place that's easy to pick up and then begin writing or revising first thing the next morning. If I go onto the Internet immediately, I'm soon distracted and lose track of time. Also, I let family know they're more important than my work but that when I'm in a mode of needing to think without interruptions, I need their help and protection from distractions. We're all in this together! And your post will help other Christian poets and writers too, so I'll highlight it on the Christian Poets and Writers blog - http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com. God bless.

I like your blog! My routine is I get up search for food let my dog out and feed her then I go to my laptop and stare at my book thinking and reading and thinking and if nothing comes to me then I'll look at fb but only on my phone easy to check and easy to get off real quick. Then I check email. Then I stare at my book some more write a little bit get stuck then see what shows I'm behind on tv. But if Alaska State Troopers is on I always use that as background noise then I can write for hours. Sometimes if I'm distracted a lot I'll look at how many words I got and how many pages I got then ill give myself a New goal of 5 more pages for the night or if I can make it to 1500 words written today I'll be good. I eat lunch when I'm hungry and I tend to get up be focused on my book not food get distracted by that and go back forgetting to eat. I then have to make a run to pick up my cousin from school and then I get distracted by video games and anime. Sometimes when I feel like I've run dry I will reread pride and prejudice then I will watch pride and prejudice, and Jurassic park. Get inspired and start over.